NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Shielded by anonymity and extra security, jurors got their first look Monday at a rare U.S. trial of a former cabinet-level Mexican official charged with taking bribes to aid drug traffickers he was supposed to be neutralizing.
After blowing a kiss to his wife and daughter in the courtroom gallery, Genaro Garc铆a Luna, who once was Mexico's top security official, watched with little outward reaction as opening statements began. His case folds in Mexico's politics, its vast and violent drug trade, uncomfortable connections between the two, and delicate U.S.-Mexico relations about fighting drugs and corruption.
Garc铆a Luna is accused of accepting millions of dollars to let the notorious Sinaloa cartel operate with impunity as it sent tons of cocaine to the U.S.
鈥淭he person who's supposed to be in charge of fighting the Sinaloa cartel was actually its most valued asset ... and with his help, the cartel made millions," Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Pilmar told jurors. He called Garc铆a Luna 鈥渁 man who betrayed both his country and ours.鈥
He said that while Garc铆a Luna portrayed himself to both countries as a drug enforcement hero, he saw to it that the cartel got information on investigations, smooth passage for its cocaine through police checkpoints, and police escorts 鈥 and sometimes even badges 鈥 for cartel members. Officers hand-delivered drug shipments from airports and acted as mercenaries to kill people whom the cartels wanted gone, Pilmar said.
Garc铆a Luna's lead lawyer, C茅sar de Castro, told jurors that the government鈥檚 case rested on 鈥渞umors, speculation and the words of some of the biggest criminals in the world.鈥
鈥淣o money, no photos, no video, no texts, no emails, no recordings, no documents 鈥 no credible, believable evidence that Genaro Garc铆a Luna helped the cartel,鈥 the lawyer said in his opening statement. He described the case as 鈥渁 very public and angry display鈥 by a U.S. government that is forsaking a onetime drug-fighting partner whose diligent work made him enemies: corrupt police officers, politicians who opposed the anti-drug war, and cartels. Traffickers are taking the stand to lessen their own punishments and exact revenge, the attorney argued.
鈥淒on鈥檛 let the cartels play you,鈥 he told jurors in his opening statement.
They soon heard a different story from known as 鈥淓l Grande.鈥
He testified about joint Sinaloa-police raids on the rival Gulf cartel's operations in the city of Monterrey; police officers letting him set up routes to move 800 to 1,200 kilograms (1,764 to 2,646 pounds) of cocaine multiple times a week through the state of Chiapas; and police tipping the cartel to forthcoming searches so the traffickers could clear out beforehand.
Villarreal Barragan recalled that after some Sinaloa cartel drugs were seized in the state of Sonora, he got the contraband released by reminding the regional police commander that the cartel had gotten him placed in his job.
During all these alleged episodes in the early 2000s, Garc铆a Luna headed the federal police force 鈥 and got payoffs from the Sinaloa group, according to Villarreal Barragan. He described Garc铆a Luna picking up duffel bags full of cash at a Mexico City safe house and collecting $14 million in cardboard boxes at a warehouse full of cocaine that police had seized from the Gulf gang and turned over to its Sinaloa rivals.
Cartel leaders viewed Garc铆a Luna as 鈥渢he best investment they had,鈥 said Villarreal Barragan, who pleaded guilty himself to drug trafficking. Garc铆a Luna's lawyers haven't yet had their turn to question him.
Garc铆a Luna led Mexico鈥檚 Federal Investigation Agency from 2001 to 2005, then served as secretary of public security to then-President Felipe Calderon from 2006 to 2012.
Garc铆a Luna was seen as the point man in Calderon's bloody war on cartels and as a key ally in a U.S. anti-drug-trafficking initiative that started in former President George W. Bush's administration and provided Mexico's police with equipment, technology and training. Photos shown in court depict Garc铆a Luna with former U.S. President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Sen. John McCain and other high-ranking officials.
But Garc铆a Luna also was dogged by allegations of ties to drug traffickers.
Then, during former Sinaloa kingpin Joaquin 鈥淓l Chapo鈥 Guzman's trial in New York, a former cartel member that he personally delivered at least $6 million in payoffs to Garc铆a Luna, and that cartel members had agreed to pool up to $50 million to bribe him.
Garc铆a Luna, who moved to Miami after leaving his government post, was arrested in 2019 in Texas and has since been held without bail in a federal lockup. He has to charges of drug trafficking and engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. The 54-year-old could face decades in prison if convicted.
Current Mexican President Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador, a leftist, has welcomed the trial, which could spotlight corruption on a conservative predecessor's watch.
Garc铆a Luna is being tried in the same Brooklyn federal courthouse where Guzman of running a sprawling international drug-smuggling operation for decades.
. They also are escorted to and from the courthouse by deputy U.S. marshals and sequestered from the public while inside.
